Ministry of Information & Broadcasting
PMJDY MOST SUCCESSFUL INSTRUMENT FOR FINANCIAL INCLUSION: BANKING EXPERTS
PIB HYDERABAD HOLDS WEBINAR ON THE OCCASION OF 7TH ANNIVERSARY OF PRADHAN MANTRI JAN DHAN YOJANA
The Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana  has been the most successful financial inclusion programme since Independence, the banking experts opined in a webinar organized by the Press Information Bureau , Ministry of Information of Information and Broadcasting, Government of India, Hyderabad on the occasion of the 7th Anniversary of the launch of PMJDY in the city on Friday. The experts who traced the journey of implementation of PMJDY, the major milestones and challenges included Shri Ram Narayana Boga, Director, State Bank Institute of Rural Banks, Shri V. Arvind, Chairman, Telangana Grameena Bank, Shri K. Praveen Kumar, Chairman, Andhra Pradesh Grameena Vikas Bank andShri Loknath Panda, Director-Zero Mass Corporate BC. They brought out various aspects of how the trinity of JAM- Jan Dhan Accounts, Aadhar linkage with Mobiles helped the Government to reach out to the people to enable them to tide over the financial distress during the corona pandemic.
Shri Ram Narayana Boga said that the PMJDY accounts have ensured that there are no middlemen and the beneficiaries are getting money directly. He said the account holders of the PMJDY are also getting comprehensive financial services like getting loans under PM Mudra Yojana without collateral, overdraft facility along with life and accidental insurance facilities. Saying that more than 43 Crore PMJDY accounts have been opened in the country, Shri Ram Narayana informed that more than 55 percent of these accounts are of women. Around 11 Crore who are yet to be brought under PMJDY would be done in this financial year, he said.
Shri V. Arvind, Chairman, Telangana Grameena Bank, said his bank has 14 Lakh Jan Dhan accounts and more than eight lakh of them are that of women to whom the bank has transferred Rs.120 Crore as Covid assistance announced by the Central Govt during the first wave. Saying that more than 75 percent of accounts have been seeded with Aadhaar, the Chairman said the bank is ensuring that all account holders are covered by the PM Suraksha Beema Yojana and PM Jeevana Jyothi Beema Yojana by monitoring the accounts status through a dash board. Highlighting the benefit of having a PMJDY account, he said his bank could hand over two lakh rupees within 48 hours under the PM Suraksha Beema Yojana to the next of kin of an account holder who died of electrocution.
Shri K. Praveen Kumar, Chairman, Andhra Pradesh Grameena Vikas Bank said the PMJDY is having six pillars -Universal access to banking services through banking correspondent or Bank Mitra, Basic savings bank accounts with overdraft facility of Rs. 10,000 to every eligible adult, Financial Literacy Program like promoting savings use of ATMs and getting ready for credit, Creation of Credit Guarantee Fund to provide banks some guarantee against defaults, Insurance coverage and Pension scheme for unorganized sector. He further informed that his bank his having more than 16 lakh PMJDY accounts, two-third of which are held by women.
Shri Loknath Panda, Director-Zero Mass Corporate BC, said his organisation providing business correspondent and business facilitator services through its 10,000 outlets pan India. He highlighted that technology driven services have enabled the widening of the net of inclusion of beneficiaries under the PMJDY.
Earlier, Smt.Shruti Patil, Director of PIB delivered the inaugural address, Shri Mohan Das, Deputy General Manager of SBI introduced the speakers.